Belphegor - Blood Magick Necromance

Belphegor – Blood Magick Necromance

Scheduled Release Date: 14^th January 2011 on Nuclear Blast Records

When I read about this album coming out and I heard what the band had described their own material as, I thought that they were being a bit excessive in saying that this album would be the rebirth of blackened death metal as a genre. Boy was I wrong.

When the first song, In Blood – Devour This Sanctity, blasts off, you can tell this is Belphegor doing what Belphegor do best. Very eastern influenced guitar riffs coupled with a nice dark atmosphere and drumming that can flow very nicely from blast beats into simple slower beats with ease, and all of this show in this track. It all flows through very nicely and makes for a great song, aside from the ending which is good but doesnt really fit with the rest of the song. The next track Rise to Fall and Fall to Rise uses wonderful discordant riffing coupled with sections of powerful chugging all mixed in and moved nicely by once again well flowing drum beats, particularly with the rolling double bass under the slower guitar sections. A really dark evil song.

The title track is probably my favourite of the album. It begins nice and slow and dark then bursts into powerful drumming and great guitar riffing. The bass leads into the verse riff wonderfully and sounds fantastic but the highlight for me is the chorus section. The group vocals coupled with the evil atmosphere combine perfectly to give such an insane feel to the song and send shivers up my spine. When it fades into an eerie cleaner section I thought that would be the end of this track, but the chorus part belted in once more and it was like being hit by a train on its last time round, the way it burst in with even more insane sounding vocals and a somehow darker feel left me in absolute awe.

Discipline Through Punishment is the only track that I feel disappoints on this record. It starts off very well with an eerie clean guitar combined with powerfully dark distorted chords, but the section before the chorus has guitar riffs that wouldnt feel out of place on a generic deathcore album, which is very unlike Belphegor. Luckily the chorus is good enough to make me forget about that, but the ending is too sudden, as if they ran out of ideas for this song and leaves me thinking that they could’ve done better with that particular track. Angeli Mortis De Profundis on the other hand bursts straight in with an absolute onslaught of blast beats, fast riffs and mighty vocals that doesnt relent throughout. It may be the shortest track on this album by quite a bit, but that in no way stops it being one of the best.

The rest of the album carries on exactly how the first few songs started it, with Impaled Upon The Tongue Of Sathan being a very evil sounding song and certainly living up to it’s name, and Possessed Burning Eyes continuing the same flow of great riffs, interesting song structures and dark atmosphere. The closing track, Sado Messiah burst in with a fantastic opening riff and insane drum work and blasts straight through the entire of the song. The drumming somehow continuing throughout at the same pace and overall has that same fantasticly dark atmosphere to it that the rest of the album has had.

This review may seem a tad long as you’re reading it, but once you have listened to this album I think you will fully understand why. The blackened death metal genre hasnt felt this alive and fresh in a long time and Belphegor were fully justified in their statement. Bravo.

9.5/10

Bryan Shuttleworth

The Republic Of Wolves - The Cartographer

The Republic Of Wolves - The Cartographer
Scheduled Release Date: 1st January Self-Relased

I jumped into this release with a very open-mind as I had only heard one track by this band, which was The Oarsman, and it did not disappoint, so it left me feeling skeptical on the band's debut, until they released The Cartographer which is a borderline lengthy EP or a short but very sweet LP.
 The Pilot And The Pilot's Boy is an interesting introduction that starts with very mysterious sounding bells over crashing waves, which gives quite an eerie feel, but leaves with a very abrupt finish that leads nicely into Home with clean electric guitars and layered vocals which reminded me very much of Suede's very own Brett Anderson in small parts. It's an enjoyable but quite subtle song, some nice sounds make it feel almost like a more epic sounding Brand New, complete with clever flowing lyrics on a totally different sound.
 Flowing very nicely into the next track Calm Down, including very similar vocals and lyrics, as if continued but with a more calm and relaxed feel. The use of chiming bells and echoed vocals give this track a real dream-like, transparent feel.
 Widow's Walk opens and i'm very impressed by how great the flow is from track to track, slight rocking sounds are heard, mimicing a stationary boat at sea, then drums come in with great sounding crashes and hi hats and some very emotional vocals. Suddenly the vocals change to screaming over the top of the drums and guitar, the vocals become more layered, and the drums sound so good in this track. Then everything goes quiet and its just a simple guitar, then joined by another, the vocals return with rattling drums and everything is seriously working brilliantly, this track has a great solemn feel to it. And then the screamed vocals and drums come crashing in one more time and then its over. Fantastic.
 Again flowing in with simple guitar work, drums and more layered vocals, India sounds quite depressing and low, and then everything explodes and screamed vocals cross between layered clean vocals, with great feedback guitar work, everything just fits wonderful. After another chorus everything slows down and a clean guitar starts playing over some very emotionally propelled vocals and then it bursts again and the drumming is absolutely fantastic, the whole sound is compelling and it just sucks you in until it spits you out right at the end. Mirage starts with great vocals over a simple acoustic guitar that feels very lonely and lost. Tambourine and drums intrude and then more layered vocals come in, everything gets louder and a very interesting second guitar riff plays over the others. Suddenly a quoir of "oh's" appear and i'm quite let down with the idea of the shouty chorus vocals, making them sound too over the top with their repetitive shouting. The track starts off really well, until the quoir comes in, which is a shame, and brings this track to a mediocre at best.
 The Dead Men Stood Together totally drags you in with really hard riffing and drums and clean electric guitar playing over the top. The vocals come in and then several vocals come in over the instruments during what is a really simple and great chorus. The second verse repeats and the end has some wonderful guitar moments and then you're left with a slow guitar riff over increasing hi-hats and then some lengthy vocals come in and everything starts to build up with a chant of "we are" and then it brings everything together, and then more screamed vocals layered in with increased "we are" chants until everything fades out and you're left with the haunting chants as everything slowly fades until silence for around 2 minutes until a raw drearing acoustic comes in with crackling vocals. Not really that impressive, it comes off as a very generic acoustic song, bit of a poor finish.
 At the close of the record, I feel that The Republic Of Wolves have some very big ideas up their sleeves, both equal in high and low factors. Taking in the full sound of The Cartographer, it's a wonderful experience, if not just a little too short for my taste, and I am left wanting alot more from these promising musicians.
9/10

Thomas Eccles

Stratovarius - Elysium

Stratovarius – Elysium

Scheduled Release Date: 14^th January 2011 on Edel Music

Stratovarius are a very well established band by now and by their 13^th album, you kind of know what to expect from them. Great guitar riffs, good melody driven songs and the odd long instrumental thrown in occasionally. Unfortunately this isn’t an album to get particularly excited about. As the first track, Darkest Hours starts up it gives out a positive vibe and a good start, but it doesnt lead into anything much too special, it leads into a track of large repetition. Yes, ok, the chorus is quite nice and catchy, but having it repeated about 4 times, with the same bridge just before almost every time is a bit excessive. Under Flaming Skies is a decent song however with some nice catchy melodies and some of the usual guitar work you’ve come to expect from them, but again nothing too special. This kind of theme seems to follow through most of the album,  with many repetitive sections and lacking any real spark to it.

That is until it reaches track 8, Event Horizon, the first track to really grab my attention. It belts into some fantastic riffing and a less boring feel to the whole track compared to the rest of the album. Once again some fantastic solo’s and a nice catchy chorus that isnt overly used like in some of the previous tracks.

Ending with the title track this album does actually end on a high, even if it hasn’t been particularly brilliant through the rest of it, which is a real shame. Elysium is a good interesting song with some strong guitar and bass riffing, and a decent, more interesting structure to it. It kicks into gear with faster tempo after about 5 minutes and manages to hold my attention nicely throughout its 18 minutes which is a shame as the rest of the album couldnt keep me that interested, and a lot of people wouldnt have listened this far into it.

Unfortunately, despite ending on a high note, this seems to be an album of filler tracks for Stratovarius. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent album that will keep stratovarius fans as fans, but it lacks any real spark until the last 2 tracks, which a lot of listeners would miss out on. Other than those 2, it’s just plain song structures, repetitive songs and if you're not already a fan of them, this probably wont grab you particularly well.

5/10

Bryan Shuttleworth

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Scheduled Release Date: 14th February 2011 on Rock Action Records

It's hard for me to become attached to several bands at the same time that are placed in the post-rock genre, just because it's so hard for me to understand which emotions I want their music to make me feel. When listening to masterpieces such as Godspeed's perfect soundtrack to the end of the world, F sharp A sharp Infinity or Mono's hauntingly beautiful Hymn To The Immortal Wind, I know what I am getting myself into, for better or for worse. For Mogwai, however, I seem to be in quite a conundrum, as when listening to their fantastic debut Mogwai Young Team I am in confusion as to when I listen to the second, slightly poppy sounding record Come On Die Young because they sound like two different records from two totally different bands. With Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, I was reminded of this same problem only on a much smaller scale, as in each track really didn't sound like the Mogwai I knew at all...for better or for worse.
 The record starts off with a classic post-rock sounding track that wouldn't go amiss on an Explosions In The Sky record. There's plenty of melodic guitars weaving throughout the track followed by distorted sounds and with a small but rewarding build up, this track is a great example of the wonderful musicianship this band has and is an overall brilliant start to album. The next track Mexican Grand Prix caught me off guard quite a bit as I was heavily reminded of a track i'd heard on Come On Die Young, which I must say worried me somewhat, but to my surprise the track didn't really fall below par with it's whispered electronic vocals, which added a nice touch to the overall song, although with the continuous sound effects running over the top of everything, it does get quite repetitive.
 The first thought that popped into my head when Rano Pano played was My Bloody Valentine and the ginormous amount of distortion that this track brought to my unready ears. The overall sound was quite a relaxing dreamscape feel and I actually felt calm and enjoyed the nice heavy addition of distortion. The next few tracks didn't really stand out for me, they just seemed to pass by straight away, although Letters To The Metro gave me a break from the quick rush of San Pedro with it's soft, mellow feel throughout, which was quickly diminshed with the grungy sounds of distorted bass coming through in George Square Thatcher Death Party.
 The next song was instantly one of my favourites, due to the wonderfully uplifting sounds it seemed to ooze from it's hidden beauty on the record, there's even a short distorted guitar solo added right before the wave of emotion sweeps you and lands you back on track for a total change in direction with Too Raging To Cheers, which is a sorrow sounding but beautiful addition to the record. The mournful violin is magnificently placed, but unfortunately it only stays for a short while, which was a shame because that was one of the main highlights of the track.
 The last song You're Lionel Richie really did catch me off guard as it begins with a beautiful entwining of twin guitar playing until halfway through the song it fades and into...massive guitar and bass distortion followed by crushing drums. And all of a sudden i'm listening to a sludge metal record. Before I knew it the song slowly started to deplete in sound and the record was over.
 The way Mogwai can jump from post-rock sounding landscape pieces to relaxing ambience, grunge rock to sludge metal is quite a marvellous talent, and they do pull it off quite brilliantly. The relationship between the guitar melodies are fantastic and the use of synths added nice textures to the overall sound of individual songs is great too. Although on my first listen, the second half feels much more dominating than the first half, but it's still a very decent record and a nice addition to the ever-growing catalogue of post-rock.
8/10

Thomas Eccles

Earth - Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light Vol. 1

Well, this is a new blog made simply for us to review various albums that are released throughout the year, for the sake of doing it. Starting fresh at the start of 2011. So here is the first review:

Earth - Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light Vol. 1
Scheduled Release Date: 7th February 2011 on Southern Lord Records

When I heard this album was coming out I was very excited about it as I had loved their last release, 2008’s The Bee’s Made Honey In The Lions Skull, and I must say, straight from the off, it did not disappoint. The opening 2 chords of Old Black alone made me know this was going to be a great album and it continued suit. It’s dark, mellow, hypnotising melodies on guitar and bass and the slow, simplified drums weaving in and out of eachother flawlessly sent me into a great trance, making me feel as if i was in another world, with the cello only adding more power and feeling to it all.
Father Midnight’s name suits it perfectly i think as it is a much darker, more evil sounding song, and fades out wonderfully into another spacey track Descent to the Zenith, which which has a similar vibe to the last album, in a very good way. As does the track Hell’s Winter, even if it does sound very similar to the song Engine of Ruin on their last release, but I dont think this takes away from the album as a whole at all.
This is a much more natural, organic sounding album, there are a lot less instruments on it than there were on The Bee’s, and the focus is more on the main 4 instruments with this one; guitar, bass, drums and cello, and if anything the rawness strengthens it as a whole, and gives it a more imperfect beauty. There’s no hidden parts that you will only notice on repeat listens, and its all about the sound now. It’s as if they’re just jamming right in front of you.
But just as you think you have gotten into the flow of this album and you think you can just mellow out to the rest of it without paying much real attention, it catches you straight off guard with the intro bass on Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 and it echoes through your mind with a prescence that cannot be ignored and it snaps you out of the trance it sent you in and makes you pay attention. And as the guitar and cello cautiously quiver in the background waiting to be ushered in by the drums, it continues with that same power and beauty that that the rest of the album has had and it makes you ask yourself one question: How long until volume 2 comes out?
This album has entranced me, and I know I will be listening to it for many weeks to come, its ethereal sound of which Earth are very accomplished at now has grabbed me once again just as it did with their last effort, in fact considerably more so, and I applaud them.
9.5/10

Bryan Shuttleworth.